It is known for a computer to execute one software (called “client”) to send a request over a network, for services or data from (or processing by) another computer that executes another software (called “server”). In one such example, a computer executing a server may receive via the Internet, from a computer executing a client, a request to search for US Patents, the request specifying one or more search criteria, e.g. date of publication, inventor name, etc. In this example, the computer executing the server (called “server computer”) operates on the request, to perform the search as per the search criteria. Then, the server computer returns a response (e.g. web page) with search results, to the computer executing the client (called “client computer”).
FIG. 1A illustrates a prior art system in which a publicly-accessible server computer 20A receives a request via a public network, queries one or more internal server computers 20I, 20J . . . 20N, and assembles a response to be provided to client computer 10. One disadvantage noted by the current inventors is that the publicly-accessible server computer 20A is required in all communications between the client computer and the internal server computers 20I, 20J . . . 20N, which makes the work of the publicly-accessible server computer 20A unnecessarily complicated. FIG. 1B illustrates another prior art system, in which internal server computers 20I, 20J . . . 20N of FIG. 1A are connected to the public network, over which client computer 10 may send requests to each of server computers 20A, 20I, 20J . . . 20N individually and independently. The current inventors note that in the architecture of FIG. 1B, client computer 10 must have more logic than in FIG. 1A, to generate and transmit each of Request1, Request2, Request3 and Request4 to respective server computers 20A, 20I, 20J and 20N, and to receive and process corresponding responses received therefrom. For example, client computer 10 of FIG. 1B needs information on how to individually connect, to each of server computers 20I, 20J . . . 20N, which was unnecessary in the architecture of FIG. 1A. Hence, prior art can benefit from an improvement, as follows.